Follow us on Google Discover When the chips are down, Coco Gauff can always be counted on to come up trumps.
Gauff’s record on hard courts is pretty remarkable in WTA 1000 events, and the Wuhan Open has now been added to her list of titles won.
Gauff praised Jessica Pegula after beating her in Wuhan, with the American rampant throughout the event.
Steve Johnson was impressed with Gauff during the latest WTA 1000 event, and the 21-year-old is once again in fine form, going into the WTA Finals where she will defend her title.
Andy Roddick has critiqued Gauff at points across the year, but now he’s made some positive comments about the world number three.
Photo by Wang He/Getty ImagesAndy Roddick thinks something is ‘weird’ with Coco Gauff’s tennis
Gauff failed to lose a single set last week on the way to another title, and in truth, she secured the title with relative ease.
Now, the youngster will be suitably warmed up for the rest of the year, and perhaps the challenge will be to head into the Australian Open with some momentum.
Roddick has now shared on his Served podcast what he finds really weird about Gauff’s tennis at the moment.
He said: “It feels like we’re always negative, and then she just wins stuff. It’s weird in a way because everyone criticises Coco and, in a way, you should, it’s weird to see someone who is two or three in the world double-fault like she has and go through those kinds of mental demons, even though we weren’t supposed to call it that at the US Open, but I think it was.
“I think there are technical deficiencies, the forehand comes and goes and also, I don’t think she gets enough credit for, when the trajectory on her backhand is straight through the court, and it can bruise you with this flat ball, and then mixing up this forehand and then slicing forehands and she’s able to kind of bring your level down.
“Everyone talks about the Roland Garros final and goes, ‘Well Sabalenka didn’t play that well’. She doesn’t just not play well just because, there’s a reason for it. Coco knows she can rely on her legs, she knows she can mix up paces on the forehand. When she’s going right, that is very, very tough to deal with, when she’s not missing that shot, it’s very tough to deal with.
“My opinion is that when people say ‘you’ve got to go after the forehand’, I don’t know. I really don’t know. She kind of plays reverse tennis, it’s like the backhand is the shot and the forehand if she didn’t miss it ever…she’s a really tough customer!
“I thought she played well. I thought she had control of her ability to hit the ball flat on her forehand side and listen, Jess Pegula is one of the best ball strikers on earth. Also, Jess Pegula is not one of the taller players on earth, right? So you get it up and out of the zone, and it becomes frustrating.”
Andy Roddick shares what he thinks will happen to Coco Gauff in future years
Roddick made things clear about Gauff’s serve after her exit at the US Open and now he’s doubled down on his former claims.
Roddick was a quality server himself, and it would appear that he’s firmly backing Gauff to tackle her demons when it comes to the serve she currently has.
Gauff has served over 400 double faults this season, and to win a Grand Slam and a Masters 1000 doing such a thing is quite remarkable.
Roddick said: “Coco wins a Masters 1000 and it’s like we don’t talk about it when she wins.
“For me, I do think and maybe I’m in the minority right now, but I do think Coco will be a dominant server at some point in her career. I know I’m redundant at this point, but I’ve seen it, the ability is there, it will click, she’s only 21.
“When that comes around and clicks, the forehand will get better; we tend to get better as our career progresses, especially with our weaknesses.
“She’s two and three in the world with two shots that come and go week to week. There is a place to criticise them right now, but in my mind, when those two things get 20-30% better, she’s going to be a real problem; she’s been top three and a champion with those deficiencies.”